Fodor's may use your email address to send you relevant information on site updates, account changes, and offers. For more information about your privacy and protection, please review our full Privacy Policy.

The Golden Triangle of Art - Madrid

Madrid has a strong artistic atmosphere, especially in the Retiro district – three major art museums formed a Golden Triangle of Art which has one of the most prestigious classical art collection in the world. With a Madrid Card, visitors could have free access to the three museums without queuing. I went to the three museums in a day. In fact, it would easily need three days for an art buff to truly appreciate and enjoy the art piece by piece.

1. Of all the “must-do” in Madrid travel guide, Museo Nacional del Prado could easily get voted the most important “things to do” in Madrid. Unlike its fellow museums such as Le Louvre, or the National Gallery in London, the exterior of the Prado Museum may look a little bit subtle. Yet it doesn’t undermine its scale and importance in European classical art. The national museum has an extensive art collection with over 7,000 paintings, from Spanish artists like Diego Velázquez, Francisco Goya, and Peter Paul Rubens, along with other famous artists including El Greco, Titan, Rembrandt, Albrecht Durer, Raphael, and much more…

The most iconic masterpiece of them all would probably be Velázquez’s Las Meninas, who brought portraits of the Felipe IV’s family to a new level of originality. Personally, I love Goya’s high contrast and solid color style, the simplistic yet mindfully depiction of people in his paintings impressed and inspired me so much. Since the museum does not allow photography, we had to appreciate these masterpieces by heart. You could visit http://wp.me/p5Lw9a-Jh for some tips about visiting Prado!

2. The Queen Sofia Museum, or Reina Sofia National Art Museum, on the other hand, housed a contemporary art collection of 17,000 artworks, including the most famous painting Guernica by Picasso, who transposed anger and frustration about a Guernica (Basque village) bombing scene during the Spanish Civil War on canvas and created a masterpiece. Queen Sofia has different exhibition halls, with temporary and periodic themed contemporary exhibitions (including my favorite installation art exhibitions), and a permanent art exhibition (like Picasso) on the second floor. Of course, to me, the permanent exhibition sounded way more impressive with Picasso, Miró, and Dali.
More details and you are welcome to visit and leave comments! @ http://wp.me/p5Lw9a-Jh.

3. The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum was originally a private art collection by, yes, Thyssen-Bornemisza (and a rather big one, second largest in the world after the British Royal Collection) and now it is a privately owned art museum in the Golden Triangle. Interestingly (or coincidentally), Thyssen has a comprehensive survey of Western Art – from classical to modern, impressionism to pop; so the museum kinda filled the gaps and holes of its fellow Prado and Queen Sofia with a new perspective. Notable artworks are rather random, luckily they are carefully themed and arranged so the paintings don’t lose the focus. My surprising moments would be seeing Pop-Arts at the end of our mini art-tour day.

Another special place to go in the district is the Caixa Forum. It is a modern refurbishment of an old abandoned electrical station on the way between Queen Sofia and Thyssen. It has now become a museum and a cultural center. The site was constructed by Swiss architects – the roof of the old building was lifted up and encased with iron with a sharp color of red. In contrast, a green wall was built next to the building and it was designed by French botanist Patrick Blanc. Love the way how old buildings are revitalized – and how the once abandoned, ignored structure has become popular again! You are welcome to visit http://wp.me/p5Lw9a-Jh for more details, photos and share your experience as well!

Thanks for the info. We'll be spending 2 days visiting these museums and the park. I want to be able to carry my camera to take pictures in between and at the park but I've read that camera's aren't allowed in the museums. Did you notice if they had lockers where I could store my camera while inside the museums? We are staying at an apartment within a couple of blocks of the Reina Sophia so I could just leave it there and come back later for photos.

I have been to Madrid eight times and always found something new to see
at museum, galleries, and other art venues.
It is a great city :excellent restaurants, beautiful parks, elegant streets and shops
of Salamanca district, efficient public transit.
Plus :Toledo, Segovia, Escorial, Chinchon,
Alcazar de Henares, Avila, Aranjuez...all reachable in an hour.
Looking forward to another visit a week from now.

My camera is my iPhone but especially with Guernica, taking a flash photo is not advised. I loved the Prado, perhaps because they had an exhibition of Hermitage treasures while I was there. And the cafe isn't so bad for a snack.

You can't take pics at the Prado, but you certainly can take photos at Reina Sofia National Art Museum (except Guernica by Picasso...not even without a flash) and the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum unless somthing hs changed at those latter two museums since last May.

Here is a review from a few years ago. We will return this September and look forward to the Bosch Exhibition.

Prado

For those unfamiliar with the Prado, it is in the top 5 general art museums. When we first visited the Prado in 1972 we were told the collection consisted of either Spaniards or artists from lands that were once under Spanish domain. Since they added Botticellis and Caravaggios, which raised some questions. But Franco had a moveable concept of the truth. Of course, he is dead for over thirty years and now they have a Tintoretto exhibition.

It is advertised as the first major exhibit of his work in 70 years. My sister-in-law, an accomplished artist, warned me that I would not regard Tintoretto highly. My SIL, did not mention that Titian did not regard Tintoretto highly either, something of a Mozart/Salieri dispute.
Tintoretto’s craftsmanship is nowhere as gifted as Titian and many of his works have figures that almost seem breathless. One of his grand works, Paradise, portrays heaven as very crowded. Personally when I get to heaven, I would like a little more space with some excellent light for reading.

The permanent collection includes Zubaran whose colors make his work appear three dimensional. Bosch’s Garden of Early Delights and Breughel’s Hay Wagon are almost hallucinogenic in their whimsy and imagination. But Velazquez and Goya are the stars of the Prado. To see how crazed Goya became one only need to compare the tranquility of hunting paintings to the insanity that is his Black Pictures. The Black pictures include a Colossus stealing humans and his famous Second Of May where faceless French soldiers are executing terrified Spaniards.

Velazquez’s Las Meninas, is considered one of art’s greatest works. It is exceptional combination of bent reality and reality. He portrays himself as painting the picture but he also simultaneously exiting. He is supposedly creating a portrait of the Infanta Margarita but she is facing away from the painter. And the walls are covered with paintings but they are too dark to discern their subject matter.

In another room is his depiction of Aesop. His world weariness is seen in his eyes, a covered hand, and his shoes. It is extraordinary.

One painting that caught my attention was the Ages and Death by Hans Balding Grien. (1484-1548). It depicts a woman in various stages of her life in very bleak terms. It is in sharp contrast to the other works in the museum.
Try going when it opens to avoid the tour buses and the scads of school children.

Reina Sofia

The Museum is across the street from the busy Atocha Station. The building looks like an amalgam of different uses with the elevators added on the outside while the inside varies from an now enclosed cloister to an office building.

There are two floors of permanent exhibits the 2nd and 4th and both are Spanishcentric.
The 4th floor is filled with post war Spanish artist with a Motherwell thrown in. The second floor has the name brands-Picasso, Dali, Gris, Miro, occasionally interrupted by a Kandinsky, Magritte, or Tanguy. They do have an exceptional collection of photographs particularly Man Ray’s silver gelatins including those of his friends Bunel, Dali, and Andre Breton. There are also photos of the Spanish Civil War some which were taken by Robert Capa.

The Dalis remind us that he was a brilliant, inventive craftsman who added thoughtful and quirky touches. There are pieces from his twenties to his nineties. The later paintings demonstrate a simplicity toward his work,

The focal point of the museum is Guernica and its attendant studies. There is great controversy even now whether it should have been moved from an annex of the Prado. To me, this is a family fight. It remains one of the greatest pieces of art, an apologetic anti-war statement. There is an apocryphal story attached to the work. Supposedly a Nazi officer walked into Picasso's atelier and asked him if he painted that and Picasso replied, "No you did."

Other pieces I found interesting were:

Daniel Vazquez Diaz, La Fabrica Dormida (1925). It is at once both very industrial and dreamy.
Sculpture by Julio Lopez Hernandez, Pareja de Artesano (1965). It is older couple in front of a workbench filled with tools. It is made from wood, polyester and The detail of the faces, clothes, and tools is wonderful.
Eduardo Arroyo, Madrid-Paris-Madrid (1965). This is a two panel work which depicts the artist leaving Madrid as a clown returning to Madrid from Paris, as basically the same artist but personally more sophisticated. Very clever.

Thyssen
I went to the Thyssen Museum which is in a renovated palacio. The walls where the collection is hung are salmon colored (I guess they can turn into the world’s largest restaurant if things go bad.) The lighting is a combination of indirect natural lighting and electric. Those paintings that have glass have a glare. Although the collection is arranged chronologically, the works are laid out on both sides of a corridor with rooms off the corridor. You look like a drunk as you zig zag across the hall. I also lost track of what I saw in the rooms and did not see. The guards are always speaking in knots, so I think we can conspire to borrow a few paintings.

It is hard to believe that a family who started the collection in the 1920’s amassed so many pieces. They start in the 1300’s and proceed through the late 20th century. There are Dutch masters, impressionists, and a number of Americans including Sloan, Homer, and Copley. They seemed fond of the Hudson River School of art and befriended Lucian Freud.

We can also blame Ferninad Bol for painting Young Man with Feather (1647)
It is probably the first known portrait of the idiotic pose that many writers are given to these days, with one finger across the chin and the rest of the fist supporting the chin.

There was also one called Reclining Nude Shepherdess by Berthe Morisot (1891). I may be wrong, but I don’t think you see too many reclining naked shepherdesses.